Amnesty targets over-50s via web

The two groups aim to highlight the plight of 50-year-old 'prisoner of conscience' Nguyen Khac Toan, who has been incarcerated by the Vietnamese government since 2002 for using the internet to contact an 'exiled reactionary organisation'.

Amnesty spokesman Neil Durkin said the partnership with SilverSurfers was part of a drive to tap into new demographic groups and boost supporter numbers.

It comes under the charity's 'Protect the Human' campaign, launched in October, which aims to raise the number of supporters in the UK from 250,000 to one million, Durkin added.

The appeal uses the SilverSurfer website to draw attention to Toan's case.